The present invention relates to a new and improved method of filing a container with gases, and more specifically to a method of filling a container with a combustible mixture of gases accurately, repeatedly, and quickly.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 947,147, filed Sep. 18, 1992 by Blumenthal et al. and entitled "Apparatus for Inflating a Vehicle Occupant Restraint" (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,344), a source of inflation fluid for an air bag is a gas storage container which contains a combustible gas mixture. The combustible gas mixture includes a flammable gas and a primary gas, such as air, which contains an oxidizer gas, such as oxygen.
Using previously known techniques, a substantial amount of the has been required to fill a storage container with a combustible gas mixture. This is because excessive heating of the flammable gas and the mixture of combustible gases must be avoided to prevent ignition of the flammable gas and/or ignition of the mixture of combustible gases. With one known storage container filling system, approximately forty minutes is required to fill the storage container with the combustible gas mixture.